Mechanical movement for windmills and the like



D. l. ROWLAND.4

MECHANICAL MOVEMENT Fon'wMmMlLLs AMD THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 10, 1920.

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DANIEL I. ROVVLAND, 01E' DENVER, COLQRADO.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Jan. 10), 31622.

Application filed December 10, 1920. Serial No. 429,684.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, DANIEL l. Row nini), a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of Denver, and .State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful improvements in lvlechanical Movements for lVindmills and the like; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form u. part of this specification.

rlhe object of this invention is to provide efficient means for converting rotary motion into reciprocating motion. The invention is particularly designed for windmills, but is applicable to many other uses, as will appear.

The object is accomplished through the medium of an elongated double-faced rack upon a reciprocating head with which rack a driven pinion meshes, the pinion being adapted to travel entirely around the rack, and on the outside and means heilig provided for guiding the pinion and maintaining it in mesh with the rack as it travels along both sides and around the ends.

1n the drawings:

F'gure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, showing the invention applied to a windmill;

Figure 2 is a face view of the reciprocating head, showing a pinion in mesh with the rack;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the head,

showing a portion of the side wall broken away to disclose the rack and pinion.

The drawings show the wheel 10 of a windmill on ashaft 12 carried by a standard 14, which in turn carries a gear case 15 containing gears running in oil mounted upon the shaft 12 and upon a second shaft 16. The two shafts l2 and 16 are carried in the journals 18 on the standard 14. The gears in the gear casing 15 are provided for the purpose of gearing down, and since they run in oil, little or no attention is required.

Upon the free end of the shaft 16 there is mounted a pinion 2O and also a guide roller 22. These parts extend within a reciprocating head 24 mounted upon a vertically disposed arm 25. The head contains a guideway 26 running around the interior of the same, and upon which the outermost face of the roller` 22 travels. kA rack is disposed longitudinally of the head and is composed series and secured in the back of the head 24. preferably of pinsor rods 28, arranged in The outer ends of the rods 28 are mounted in a` bar 30. The pinion 2G lies outwardly/'of into an enlargement in the head 24, while the the roller 22, so that its outer side projects roller 22 travels around the guide 26. The pinion 20, when rotated by shaft 16, will travel up one side of the rack 28, around the -upper end thereof, downthe other side, and around the lower end, the guide 26 causing it to follow this path.' Since the shaft 16 is fixed in the bearing 18, this movement causes thehead 24 to reciprocate. It will be noted that by this construction a long stroke may be Obtained with the rack only a very short distance off the center of the shaft 16. Due to the 4fact of this short distance olf center, much less power is required to produce a given reciprocating stroke than with ordinary types of mechanism vfor this purpose.

The lower end of the arm 25 is provided with a bearing 32 which receives a pin 34 connecting said arm 25 with a vertically disposed rod 35. The parts 25 and 35 extend downwardly through a turntable 36, upon which the standard 14 is mounted and through a depending hollow extension 38 carried by theturntable 36, which extension has an opening 40 for access to the pin 34. The turntable 36 travels upon a track 42 carried by the windmill framework 44, ball bearings preferably being provided. The rod 35 is guided at its upper end in a guide 46 on the turntable, and adjacent its lower end in a guide 48 at the lower end of the extension 38, whereby the reciprocatory motion confined to a straight line. A. collar 50 is fixed on the lower end of the extension 38 to retain a loose collar 52, which abuts against an annular shoulder 54. Bolts, or other suitable retaining means, are carried on projecting pieces 56 of the framework and engage the collar 52, whereby the lower end of the extension 38 is held in lowermost position, thereby maintaining the turntable 36 upon the track 42. At the lower end of the rod 35, a swivel connection 58 with the main reciprocating shaft 60 is provided. In order to relieve the dead weight of the mainv shaft 60 when the same is descending, and in order to assist in return of thesame when ascending a plurality of n n n compensating springs 62 are connected with and engaging the lower end of said conical extension, a second collar engaging said extension andvrlgidly secured thereto, a recip- V rocatng shaft, la pair of spaced guides for Said shaft, a vertically disposed arm pivotally attached to said Shaft, a wind wheel rotatably mounted'on said turntable, means cooperating withV said vertically dieposed arm for reciprocating said shaft as the wheels turn, and compensating springs having one end attached to said shaft andthe other to said turntable. Y

In testimony whereof I aiX my signature.

DANIEL I. ROWLAND. 

